Entering a New Era–Our Baby is 21

Our baby Bethany turns 21 tomorrow.  It seems like just yesterday they were little kids.  Bethany was our little blonde haired bundle of sunshine.  She was always sunny (and for the most part still is).  I am sure her mom will blog on this special event tomorrow, but I want to blog about the passage of an era.  All our kids are now over 21!

You realize as you pass through the passage of child-rearing how difficult it is to be a good parent.  I remember many times making major mistakes as a parent – spanking out of anger, saying things I shouldn’t have said, not spending enough time with them, etc.  Meghan likes to remind me of when I told her she had a beer gut in 7th grade.  She says that was not a great thing to see to an adolescent girl (you think!).  It is a miracle that any child turns out alright.  Our prayer was always that somehow they would honor God and know Him personally.  We also pledged our commitment to each other in marriage.  It is extra tough for kids with parents who aren’t committed to each other.

As we pass this milestone, it is hard to realize that our kids are now officially adults in every definition, legal and otherwise.  While Bethany is still in college and somewhat dependent, she like her two sisters is in charge of her own life.  We fully expect our kids to ask for guidance, help, and prayer.  That remains – even at age 52 like I am.  We remain prayer warriors for our kids – that is the best thing we can do for them.  Our direct influence is nearly over, but our indirect influence is still substantial.  I am reminded that they still look to us in many ways. 

Just as I did not completely understand what was coming with parenthood, I am not completely sure what will come from here.  I am looking forward to seeing how our kids careers go, if and when they choose and commit to life partners (Meghan is already married), and most importantly how they serve a living God.  And of course, should we get grandchildren, we look forward to entering that next era, Lord willing!

Politics Season–What I Wish Would Change

Just thinking out loud about the worst of politics season and what I wish would change.  I don’t normally introduce politics into this blog, but I feel compelled to today.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the politicians can tell me something about what they can do for this country instead of what the other guy can’t do? 

Wouldn’t it be nice (sounds like a Beach Boys song) if those who have never run a business would think twice before critiquing those that have run a business?

Wouldn’t it be nice if context is drawn out of the hopeless array of statistics that are supposed to prove a point? 

Is asking for a tax return a sign of success or failure?  Isn’t asking for a tax return supposed to reveal success not failure?  When we used to ask for a tax return or W-2’s of a prospective salesman, it was to demonstrate that he or she had been successful.  Now it is used as a weapon to indicate that you are not being fair in your payment of taxes.  Amazing how that has turned around. 

Is asking about integrity in a politician something that we should ask about?  I’m sorry, but multiple extramarital affairs may be a sign of integrity issues.  Would I want someone with integrity issues as Commander in Chief?

Just thinking out loud!

Paterno–It Is Easy To Tarnish a Legacy

The death of Joe Paterno should scare the living daylights out of any of us that are in leadership.  Here is a man that up until November would have gone out with a legacy that was substantial.  All it took was one mistake, one catastrophic mistake.  And in his case, it was looking the wrong way and not taking action.  To Paterno in the scheme of what he was doing and who he was, it might seem inconsequential.  In leadership, the trap is always getting too caught up in who you are and how big you’ve become.  It does not take much to bring down a leader.  It is very sad that Joe Paterno’s legacy will now be forever tarnished. 

As I reflected on this, I thought of the Kings of Judah.  There are eight kings that are mentioned as “good” in the Old Testament after the kingdom split.  Six of the eight made catastrophic mistakes that either cost them their lives or severely tarnished their legacy.

Asa – reliance on the king of Aram for deliverance (2nd Chron 16)
Jehoshaphat – forms an unholy alliance with the Kings of Israel (2nd Chron 18)
Joash – rebelled after the death of Jehoida and abandoned his faith (2nd Chron 24)
Amaziah – bowed down to the pagan kings (2nd Chron 25)
Uzziah – undone by pride and ended life as a leper (2nd Chron 26)
Josiah – made an ill-advised decision to enter into battle against Egype (2 Chron 35)

There are two kings that made mistakes but they appear to be inadvertent and did not severely cripple their legacy.  Jotham allowed the people to run unfettered and didn’t make all the necessary reforms (2 Chron 27).  Hezekiah who made the most reforms as king nevertheless showed the Babylonians all the kingdom treasury.  It is said of Hezekiah that the “Lord did this matter only to test him that he might know all that was in his heart”. 

It is almost impossible to lead an untarnished legacy.  It is far easier to fail than to succeed.  In 75% of the cases above, what started out as good clearly ended up bad.  Again, that should scare us.  I think it is a crucial prayer to God that I might be kept from a catastrophic mistake.  I am reminded of 1 Cor. 10:12-13 when Paul clearly says that an attitude of pride can lead to downfall, but an attitude of humility before God will save us.  God wants us to finish strong.

Wrestling with God

The two sports I did in high school were baseball and wrestling.  I was a much better baseball player than wrestler.  But somehow I ended up wrestling three years in college but no baseball.  The following clip came from the vault is from me wrestling in college for Valparaiso University. 

Many people have a wrong perception of wrestling.  They think of it kind of like we see on Word Wide Wrestling or “rasslin” as some put it.  Much of wrestling is strategic.  For example, I tried a move in the match in the clip where I try to jump backwards while the opponent is holding the leg up high and it is a high risk-reward move.  If it is successful, I can actually get not only the takedown, but potential back points.  However, if it fails as in the clip, it is an easy 2 point takedown for the opponent and potentially back points for him. 

We have similar lack of perception of Jacob and his “rasslin” match with God in Genesis 32.  Wrestling may not be the right term.  It really is holding on for dear life.  The prophet Hosea in 12:4 characterizes it as prevailing with tears as he sought God’s favor.  Jacob is the trickster and his name means “heel catcher”.  He is a carnal man.  But now, he is about to be broken literally physically and spiritually as he strives with God.  God cripples him physically as a sign to his spiritual brokenness.  He is a changed man.  What was Jacob, the carnal man becomes Israel the spiritual man. 

Do we think that we can manipulate God?  God is prepared to allow us to wrestle with him as we strive with him.  He will allow us to question, to be disappointed, to be broken.  If you don’t think so, read the Psalms.  My friend Pastor Dean used to say we have “gymnasium experiences” with God.  Gymnasium experiences are rarely pleasant, but they produce a depth of spiritual growth that could never be possible without the experience.  I’ve had my share and I am so thankful for them.

Weighing in on Tebowmania

I am very thankful for Tim Tebow.  He is the real deal and I am very thankful that he is vocal about his faith and our shared faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is a brother in the Lord.  And he has never once said (at least to the best of my knowledge) that God gave him the victory.  What he has done is taken advantage of the platform that God has given him. 

I am a little concerned when I hear people say that God gave the victory to Denver.  I am not saying God can’t do that, but it is a little scary when I hear people being presumptuous about God’s purposes which are mysterious to us.  There is much more that we don’t know that that we do know.  Denver won because Pittsburgh was way over-aggressive in their defense thinking Denver couldn’t execute on a pass offense.  Troy Polamalu, also a committed Christian in particular was burned.  Does that mean that Polamalu is any less a Christian than Tebow?  No – just bad game plan.  I also don’t think God gave Tebow 316 yards of passing offense to make that match John 3:16.  When Denver was losing 45-10 to New England in the fourth quarter last night, I commented to my wife tongue in cheek that God will have a hard time overcoming another law of time to get this victory.  Did God give up on Tebow or Denver?  I don’t think so.  New England was the better team. 

The platform is great.  But as Christians, let’s not make this the success gospel.  God may choose to give us platforms, but we should never presume that it is the Christians overcoming the pagans.  Daniel, Esther, Nehemiah, Joseph, and others were given platforms for purposes unbeknownst to us and them and He may choose to give us platforms and we need to be ready for it.  But let us not presume that we are somehow deserving of it. 

A Unique Creation

We custom built our home 12 years ago and were able to put our own stamp of workmanship into the house.  There are still some things that we built into our home that we uniquely enjoy.  We love how the home is built around the property for example.  Unfortunately now that our kids are mostly out of the house, the uniqueness of it is kind of dwarfed by the size of it that is just too big for Deb and I.  However, the house becomes a home by the family interaction.  I will always remember the uniqueness of our home long after we are gone from it.  It endures because of it’s unique purpose in the life of our family.

There are 7 billion people on this planet and each person on it was uniquely designed by God.  There are no duplicates.  Further, each has a unique purpose.  Whenever I might be tempted to think that I lack purpose, I need to be reminded of that fact.  I heard Patrick Morley (www.mitm.org) speak on the uniqueness of each of us in his podcast from his weekly bible study.  I have captured part of the clip here that really summarizes that we are uniquely made for a specific purpose. 

We Are God's Workmanship by DQuigg

Patrick Morley

So when I am tempted to just be caught up in the day to day grind, I am reminded of how God uniquely designed me for HIs purposes.

It Was a Very Good Year

It was a VERY good year… we didn’t get killed when we were run over in Oakland 1-29-11… when our son-in-law was rescued in good health 5 days after he crashed his small plane on a glacier 50 miles from Anchorage.

We all receive those holiday letters from friends and family during the holiday.  Most talk about how their kids are doing, what great accomplishments were achieved and just generally getting us caught up with their lives.  I tend to stay away from the multi-pagers.  As my old boss used to say, if you can’t say it on one page, it isn’t worth saying.  But I had never seen a letter start off like that.  It was from our relatives in Juneau, Alaska.  It goes on to say despite potential tragedy, they were all fine.  It was a difficult year, but as they took stock, it all worked out.

That is kind of how Deb and I feel.  It was a challenging year in so many ways, yet such a blessing.  We were overwhelmed a heavenly Father who surrounds us with his grace and love.  We have each other and the strength of a solid marriage.  We have great kids who are no longer kids, but young adults with plans and dreams.  We have great friends and I work with a great bunch of people both at HTEx and Kent State. 

God is at work in our lives.  Nothing happens by accident and while many of us struggle, we can always find how God chooses to use these events for His glory.  So we can look back and say “It Was a Very Good Year”. 

What My New Years Resolutions Should Be!

Each of us makes New Years resolutions.  Eat less, lose weight, read more, watch T.V. less, etc.  It is a license to break and often times they are unrealistic.  However I recently heard a different spin on New Years resolutions and those are the resolutions we should keep.  These are the resolutions that others would say about us.  Now I originally thought I would get my camcorder out and interview my wife, kids, co-workers, friends, etc.  But that would put them on the spot, and besides they might be less than truthful to not make me look bad.  But I know so much about my weak spots that I thought I would take a stab at it from each of the group of people that mean the most to me.  So here goes.

• From God – Get to know me better!
• From my wife – listen to me more and better and don’t tune me out.
• From my kids – communicate with us more often and not just through mom as proxy.
• From my co-workers – praise us more and don’t just point out our faults.
• From my Kent State students – give us easier, more predictable tests.  Oops sorry, that one is unattainable.  Let’s try - be more clearer and tell us more clearly what we need to know.
• From my CLC brothers – Let’s hang out more often and just be guys.
• From my close friends – Pray more for us and bear our burdens.
• From our pastors – we are human like you and facing a huge spiritual task – will you remember us in prayer?
• From my parents (blood and in-laws)  – Call and visit us.  Appreciate what we have done for you.

I am not sure how I will do at this list but I think the first task is actually recognizing them. 

This Could be the Year

Christians are called to live their lives in light of eternity.  We are simply sojourners in light of the bigger picture of eternity.  This morning at church we were reminded by our pastor that 2012 could in fact be the year that Christ returns for His bride, the church.  If we knew that, what would change?  Are we vigilant, living our lives with that thought in mind?  I am not talking about becoming insular, but taking a kingdom living mindset.

I read through the Bible systematically each year, but I change it up each year.  This year, I am going through J. Vernon McGee’s Through the Bible.  I take one chapter at a time and really dive in.  I started earlier this month.  I figure it will take me three years this way, but I am learning so much more.  So this morning in Genesis 23, I was studying the death and burial of Sarah at age 127.  Abraham purchases a field in a country that he has been promised by God.  He fully anticipates that God will keep to His word even though it is not clear when that will happen.  It does actually happen way beyond his lifetime 500 some years later.  Put that in perspective – imagine some guy from the 16th century acting on a promise that does not occur until the 21st century.  Yet he still has to deal with the current reality that even though God tells him he will own the land, he doesn’t yet.  So he buys the land for the market price.  Even though the land is his, he is still an alien in the land. 

So it is for us – we are aliens in a world that is not yet ours.  But we live our lives in light of God’s eternal promises.  There is so much more to this life and this life encompasses much beyond the grave.  So 2012 is when I hope I can even more grasp that truth and live in light of eternity. 

Beginning in 2012, this blog will be updated on Sundays and Wednesdays.  I really believe The Overflow Life blog is about a spiritual mindset.  Like all of you, I get caught up in day to day stuff and miss the really important things.  This blog is about understanding life from an eternal perspective.  Thanks for reading!